During typical flight operations, many aircraft fly at altitudes where the atmospheric pressure is significantly less than the atmospheric pressure at ground level. To provide for the comfort and safety of passengers, the interior of aircraft are typically pressurized to simulate ground level environmental conditions during flight. The difference in pressure between the inside of the aircraft and the outside of the aircraft can be significant at operational altitudes. The pressure difference increases as the aircraft altitude increases.
Because of the difference in pressure, a breach in the hull of the aircraft can cause the inside of the aircraft to decompress by venting interior air into the atmosphere. If the breach is large enough, a sudden and violent decompression event may occur, causing a sharp and significant drop of pressure in the aircraft. Breaches in aircraft may be due to various reasons.
The flight deck of an aircraft is typically separated from the cabin by a separating wall. Movement into and out of the flight deck is facilitated by a flight deck door. Even though the flight deck may not be completely isolated from the cabin, physically and environmentally, a sudden drop in pressure in the flight deck may cause the flight deck door to open into the flight deck. This may provide for a degree of pressure equalization between the flight deck and the cabin by allowing higher-pressure air in the unaffected compartment, the cabin, to exit into the lower pressure flight deck through the flight deck door.
In some aircraft, in lieu of or in addition to the flight deck door opening, the flight deck door may have one or more decompression panels installed in the flight deck door. The decompression panels can have devices that maintain the panel closed during normal operation but allow the decompression panel to open in a decompression event. Because a decompression event may occur in both the flight deck and the cabin, conventional decompression mechanisms may not be suitable for decompression events that may occur in either the cabin or the flight deck.
It is with respect to these and other considerations that the disclosure made herein is presented.